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Knowledge baseHerbs

Cang Er Zi苍耳子

Fructus XanthiiCocklebur Fruit

  • Toxic

Also known asXanthium Fruit · Burweed

Category
Warm, Acrid Herbs that Release the Exterior (Wind-Cold Diaphoretics)
Nature
warm
Taste
sweet, bitter, pungent
Channels entered
Lung
Secondary channels
Liver
Dosage
3–10 g

Usual doses

Dosage
3–10 g
Tincture
2–4 ml

Actions & indications

Disperses Wind and Dampness and opens the nasal passages
Any nasal or sinus problem with thick discharge and related sinus headache
Disperses Wind and dispels Dampness
Wind-Damp Bi or skin disorders with itching
Dispels Exterior Wind
Splitting occipital headache due to Wind-Cold (auxiliary)

Contraindications

  • Not used for headache or painful obstruction caused by Blood Deficiency.
  • Use with caution for those with Qi and/or Blood Deficiency.
  • Use with caution during pregnancy.
  • Excessive doses may cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or abdominal pain.
  • Should not be used raw; decoction eliminates its toxicity.
  • Pork should not be eaten together with this herb.

Interactions

Combine cautiously with anti-diabetic medications such as insulin, tolbutamide (Orinase), glipizide (Glucotrol), and glyburide (Diabeta/Micronase), since a synergistic effect could produce hypoglycemia.

Combinations

Notes

  • Decoction alters this herb's toxic constituents so that they are no longer present to any significant degree.
  • This herb is classified by many sources under Herbs that Expel Wind and Dampness.
  • It is one of the principal herbs for deep-source nasal congestion with thick discharge and loss of smell.
  • It is credited with cooling fever, detoxifying, killing parasites, and eliminating pathogenic Wind.
  • It has demonstrated an ability to inhibit cancer cell growth.
  • It is effective at clearing nasal polyps.
  • For nail-shaped boils, insomnia, and bodily heaviness, it is crushed in child's urine and taken with cold water three times daily.
  • Cang Er Zi and Flos Magnoliae Xin Yi Hua both disperse Wind and open the nasal Orifices for profuse nasal discharge and headache. Cang Er Zi spreads, disseminates, and unblocks, with an influence reaching from the head down to the feet and knees and out to the skin, making it useful for Bi Syndrome and Damp skin diseases, whereas Xin Yi Hua works by encouraging the clear Yang to rise to the head and brain.
  • The root, Rx. Xanthii Cang Er Gen, is bitter, cool, and slightly toxic; it enters the Lung, clears Heat, eliminates toxins, and treats common colds from Wind-Heat invasion, and also reduces scrofula and other toxic swellings such as tonsillitis. It should be used cautiously during pregnancy and in Deficiency conditions, at a dosage of 3 to 12g.
  • The whole plant, Hb. Xanthii Cang Er Cao, is acrid, bitter, cool, and slightly toxic; it dispels Wind and clears Heat toxins and is used for Bi syndrome, spasms, cramps, skin disorders, Yin sores, rashes, and pruritus. It should not be given to deficient patients or taken for an extended period, at a dosage of 6 to 15g.
  • Cang Er Zi and Rz. Gastrodiae Tian Ma both address Wind, but Cang Er Zi dispels External Wind to treat headache and dizziness, while Tian Ma extinguishes Internal Wind to relieve headache, dizziness, and vertigo.
  • Cang Er Zi, Hb. Menthae Bo He, Rx. Angelicae Dahuricae Bai Zhi, and Flos Magnoliae Xin Yi Hua are all used for acute allergic rhinitis, while Fr. Chebulae He Zi and Per. Granati Shi Liu Pi resolve clear, white nasal discharge.

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